CotA Boss Backs V8s

With the historic first Austin 400 run and won, the question
of whether the category will head back to the Circuit of the Americas in 12 months
time appears to have been answered in the affirmative.

“That’s the plan,” the president and CEO of the new $400
million facility Steve Sexton told Australian media shortly before the third of
four 100km races roared into action on Sunday afternoon (USA time) and some
hours prior to an official three-day attendance of 68,000 being announced.

That figure seemed to tally with the expectations of the
circuit, although Sexton refused to reveal the budgeted crowd figure.

He did admit, however, that more fans would be expected as
the event was promoted to US audiences in coming years.

“Anytime we introduce a new product in the marketplace it is
going to take some time to build awareness and take time to develop
personalities,” he added. “But the personalities in V8s, the drivers are
incredible, and as we go through the years we will have the opportunity to
build on that.

While the event is reportedly subject to a five-year
contract, Sexton would only speak of a “multi-year” deal.

Sexton said record May heat, with both Saturday and Sunday
temperatures hovering near 100 degrees Fahrenheit, had hurt crowd numbers and
the revenue from the intake of alcohol and food at the circuit.

“We would always like to have more (ticket sales) whether it
is V8s, MotoGP or what have you,” Sexton said.

“Our plan is to continue to develop the series and develop
the personalities. We have a lot of work, not unlike we have a lot of work to
do with MotoGP or ALMS (American Le Mans sports cars). It is going to take time
for each of those series; promote, promote, promote, so it is going to take
time.”

While no accurate figure was available, several thousand of
the fans attending CotA were Australians, a factor that enabled the track to
gain state funding assistance for the event. However Sexton said that gate
receipts and “ancillary revenues” were a key to making the V8 project viable.

He said promoting a domestic Australian racing series to an
American audience would take effort but would be assisted by some ideas taken from
the domestic rounds and adopted in Texas.

“You will see over successive years us develop more of an
entertainment experience,” he said. “We did ok from the entertainment
perspective this year but we could do a lot more. I know in Australia V8
Supercars is an event and that is what we want to portray.

“You have people who follow the V8s or motorsport as a core
audience and we want to attract them. But the casual fan, especially in Texas,
will come out for big events and appreciate a large scale experience.”

Sexton explained the reason CotA approached V8 Supercars to
stage a round of the Championship was an attempt to diversify into a crowd
pleasing motorsport that stood apart from mainstream circuit and speedway US
offerings.

“Our goal is to try and find content or series that could
come or be developed in North America. We have always championed ourselves as
the home for the world championships and premier international scale motorsports,
of which we have three – V8 Supercars, MotoGP and F1 – to differentiate ourselves
from other circuits in the country and I think we have done that.”